


Countin' On You

by SilverhandsAss



Series: Countin' On You [1]
Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Minor Violence, Slow Burn, im just going with the flow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:08:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28429068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverhandsAss/pseuds/SilverhandsAss
Summary: Having been roaming the streets of Night City all her life, V gets herself into a bit of gang trouble and finds herself at odds with a particular officer.—Canon Divergent meeting between V and River—
Relationships: Female V/River Ward, V/River Ward
Series: Countin' On You [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2082294
Comments: 8
Kudos: 67





	Countin' On You

**Author's Note:**

> This started off with me thinking hey, imagine V and River meet *this* way instead, especially if V is a street kid. So, there's gonna be eventual romance but because it's a canon divergent meeting, stuff's gonna be different than the game.

And that was the last of them.

Day after day, these gonks were getting easier and easier to knock out. These guys were especially tough, they had bruised the crap out of her arms and ribs before she finally finished them off. Holding one of their bats in her hand, she rested it over one shoulder and walked over to an older woman that was hunched over by the garbage bins.

"It's over now, lady, come on," she assured, motioning for her to stand.

The woman was cowering, but the moment she looked at V, she must have seen the distinct difference in her attire than the gangoons around them. V wore a long sleeved crop sweater, her tattooed midriff exposed generously. She also wore jeans that had probably been patched up and fixed more times than it she could count, along with sneakers of similar condition. She had no gang logos, no affiliated tattoos or markings of any kind, and her face was most definitely not hollowed out and replaced.

Before V could urge the lady some more, the woman looked past her just in time for a voice to call out.

"NCPD! Stop right where you are!" A man ordered. "Let me see those hands!"

_Fuck!_

V raised her free hand and shoved the bat off her shoulder, holding it out passively. The woman in front of her held her hands up as well—oh, what a precious little thing, V thought. She was much older, wore a formal, grey outfit, walking around in heels and a pencil skirt. She looked like some office clerk in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

"Don't hurt her, she helped—" the woman tried to object.

"Ma'am, please step away from the area immediately," the officer urged.

The woman looked to V, who faced her palms toward her. She motioned with her head, nudging it to the side as she whispered, "Get the hell out of here!"

"She saved me," the woman called again and V sighed heavily, blinking hard.

"Lady, that's _noble_ , but get the _fuck_ out," V told her, seemingly concerned.

"Ma'am, get _away_ from this woman and step to the side. Now," the officer insisted.

The woman did not move, looking between him and V, over and over. V stepped closer to her, hearing the click of a gun behind her.

"Don't move!" The badge yelled.

"Just hold your fucking horses!" V replied, slowly bending down to drop the bat. She then kept her hands up as she stepped forward once more. "Look, I'll be fine. You go, okay? If he gets to shootin', you don't wanna be here. Go."

The woman hesitated, but eventually gave her a nod, muttering to her that she will not forget this, and finally leaving the immediate area. V could hear the footsteps getting closer and closer, the voice calling out to her once more.

"Turn around— _slowly_ ," he ordered.

"Great, just what I needed," V carefully turned to face him. "Another goody two-shoes badge failing to identify the good guy." The moment she could see him, she was studying his every feature; the cybernetic eye, the furs of his coat, the singular hanging earring—the lot of it. For an officer, he sure dressed casually.

"You tellin' me _you're_ the good guy? The hell were you doin' in the middle of a gangoon pit?"

"Dunno, maybe I got bored," V shrugged.

"Attitude like that won't get you very far," He frowned, his gun still perfectly trained on her.

"And here I thought I was perfectly well behaved," V said sarcastically. Then, from the edge of her vision, she spotted a bit of movement far behind him. Her eyes darted to it, seeing a flash of a dark figure hiding behind a large bin.

"You ain't foolin' me," the cop told her, commenting on her change in focus. "Eyes over here."

The figure peeked out, giving V a clear look on what was going on. It was a Maelstrom gangoon that had managed to avoid being noticed, aiming a rifle at them both. "Oh, _fuck!_ " V yelled, grabbing the officer as she leapt to the side. Multiple shots were fired, the sounds deafening her and leaving her in a daze momentarily as the pair landed behind cover.

There was a roaring pain in her arm as she pushed herself up to a seated position. The officer had fired his gun, she recalled, cursing under her breath while holding onto the wound tightly. "Now do you believe me?!"

The officer shuffled over, kneeling beside her. "You saved me," he said.

"And you fucking shot me!" She scolded.

"Fuck. Cover me, I'm going round back to get an angle on him," the officer told her.

"Cover you _how_ , exactly?!" V hissed.

The officer looked at her incredulously. "You went into this fight _unarmed_?"

"They had _bats_ , and I wasn't thinking!"

"Clearly!" He yelled. He peeked out to get a look, immediately being met with a barrage of bullets. The officer ducked behind cover and cursed. "There's more of them now."

"Look, just... Get the fuck out of here. You're not the one who started this mess."

"You tellin' me to leave you here?" he asked, barely looking at her.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm tellin' you. Don't suppose you got an extra piece you can lend me?" V asked, clutching her arm tightly.

"No, but I got a better idea," the officer replied, shuffling around the corner on the other side and disappearing from sight.

"Wait— _fuck!_ " V hissed, clenching her teeth. "No chivalry for the fucking wicked. _Fuck_ ," she whispered to herself, looking off to the side. She _did_ tell him to leave, and cursed at herself for doing so. Soon there were footsteps approaching her position.

"Come out, come out you little fucker!" A gangoon called from nearby.

V looked around her, spotting a body a few meters ahead of her. She crawled forward, reaching for a metal bat the man had dropped. She grabbed it and immediately shuffled back into cover, holding it close. V shut her eyes for a brief moment and breathed heavily through her nose, her jaw tight from having to force herself to ignore the pain in her arm. She pushed herself up to a crouched position, holding the bat high and readying herself for the gangoon.

The moment he turned the corner and aimed the gun at her, she was certain she would not survive. Gunshots sounded off to her right, distracting the man immediately. She did not care what was going on, she simply kicked off from the ground and swung her bat at him. She hit him square in the arm, readying it for another before the gangoon slammed his gun right into her face.

V cursed, stumbling backward and tasting iron. As the gangoon aimed his gun at her again, she swung at it and then kicked his chest. That pushed him away from her while also causing her to lose balance and fall back. A hulking figure soon approached them just as a couple of loud gunshots rang into the air. The gangoon fell limp, choking on his own blood as it pooled in his throat and chest.

Turning to her right, V saw the officer walking up to her. "You okay?!"

"Fucking hell, man! You coulda told me you were plannin' on charging at 'em!"

"I told you I was going 'round," he replied.

"And here I thought you left." V wiped at her nose with the back of her hand, seeing a smear of bright red across her skin. "Oh, mother _fucker_."

"Come on, let's get out of here before more show up," the officer suggested, then glanced at her wound. "Keep pressure on that."

"Ain't my first rodeo, chief."

—

Taking the rag from him, she pressed it against her nose and tilted her head back. "Ah, fuck."

Her arm still stung from the pain, but a quick whiff of a common painkiller helped ease the burn a little. She glanced down at her arm that was now bandaged, knowing she was going to have to go over the ink once it had healed over. She sighed and kept her head back, now wondering how much that was going to cost her.

"So," he stepped in beside her, leaning against the half wall. He looked over the edge behind them, seeing the water and letting out a low whistle at the height. "You make a habit of picking fights you'll probably lose?"

"Didn't lose that one, did I?" She countered.

"Fair point, but you had no reason to be there," his brows furrowed, showing his confusion—he seemed as though he was trying to understand her.

"The lady called for help, I heard her. There's my reason," she shrugged, pulling the rag away but feeling a slight trickle of blood still falling across her lips. Cursing, she turned the rag over to a dry patch and brought it up to her nose again.

"So that's it, you were just... picking a fight with Maelstrom gangoons because you wanted to help?" the officer asked her.

"Is that so hard to believe?" she turned her head to him. "Wouldn't you have done the same?"

"Guess I just don't see enough folks like you to believe it," he replied.

"No, you don't," she agreed, sighing deeply through her mouth.

The officer observed her a moment, looking her up and down, not caring that she was staring back and that she could see him. He was sizing her up, she figured. Maybe studying her, trying to see what he could see.

"What's your name?" he asked her.

After a few seconds of some staring from her, she finally answered. "V."

He scoffed, turning to look away from her. "Fine, _don't_ tell me."

V couldn't help but chuckle. "I don't tell anyone, princess." He turned to look at her again with a raised brow and a hint of annoyance. She sighed, dropping the attitude. " _Everyone_ calls me V." Realizing that the blood flow had come to a tentative halt, she kept the rag away from her face, folding it up.

"River. River Ward." The officer reached out his hand, "Here, I'll toss it for you."

One look at his hand had V scoffing, "Ha! _Fuck_ no," she turned to the side and tossed the rag over the edge and right into the water. She turned him with an incredulous look and smirked, "Ain't givin' you anything to work with."

River studied her a moment, then the corner of his lips flicked up as he spoke. "Definitely no stranger to the streets, then. My money's on Pacifica."

V feigned an insulted look, gesturing into the air to the absurdity of that statement. "Really think I'm that wild, Officer?" She then smirked. "Close. Heywood."

"Ah," he snapped his finger. "Woulda been my second guess."

"I'm sure," she chuckled, hopping off the wall and stepping around him.

"Don't suppose you'd let me make it up to you with a coffee?" River asked her, his gaze following her.

"For shooting me in the arm, you mean?" She raised her brow, chuckling at his sheepish expression. "Maybe put a pin in that, I got some stuff I gotta tend to, but... you know what?" she pointed at River in a casual manner. "You're not bad, Ward. Maybe in a different life, on different sides o' things, we mighta actually been friends," she told him as she began walking backward. V then turned around, making a relaxed beeline for her bike.

"You know, it's never too late," River insisted.

"Maybe not," she called back, blindly waving a goodbye to him before she mounted her bike. A short moment later, she could see the notification of something being sent to her. Contact information—River Ward.

"In case you change your mind," River called out. "Or you need something else."

With a lopsided grin and a lazy wave, V rode off.


End file.
